Forgotten
by Sktrgrl13
Summary: A friendly brawl gone wrong, emptiness and guilt that consumes, and new paths erected between rivals. Who knew that something that Natsu and Gray do everyday could lead to something like this. eventual NatRay and other pairings are hinted at as well! Prompt given by Rewinsan for "Changing Seasons" two years ago, see notes at the end of the chapter for notes. Thank you!


**Disclaimer: Mashima-sensei owns the spectacular world that is Fairy Tail**

 **Warnings: Language, Violence (minor), Fluff, Angst, pre-Shounen-ai/Yaoi**

Lucy knew that today was going to be a long day.

She of course knew that this was a possibility seeing as Fairy Tail was a guild that never rested, which she loved (most of the time), but even she knew things were being taken a little too far. The blonde celestial mage instinctively pressed her face close to her table as she dodged another table that was sent her way. She sighed exasperated and turned towards the center of the guild hall to see that Natsu and Gray were at it again. The corner of her lips twitched as she watched Natsu send a fist into Gray's cheek and sent the ice mage stumbling backwards; however, it was only mere moments later when Gray retaliated by kicking the dragon slayer in the chest.

Lucy rolled her eyes at the boys' antics and pressed her fingers to her temple. The only reason why they were even getting away with pulling this crap was because both Erza and the Master were called to Clover for the annual conference. Well the Master was called, but after what nearly happened at the previous conference in Clover, the Queen of the Fairies insisted that she accompany him. However, the only thing her absence did was annoy the Master (ever so slightly) with her protectiveness and it also gave the more rambunctious members of the guild a chance to goof off and break things.

Now, she knew that there were more capable members of the guild who could frighten Natsu and Gray into behaving, but unfortunately they found the battle between fire and ice too amusing to stop; especially in regards to Gajeel, who looked like he wanted to join in with them half the time, yet tried not to acknowledge it because he wasn't 'supposed to like them'. Then there was the matter of Mira who simply smiled at them and told the boys that they should think about what they're doing. Although it would be much more effective for her to go her usual route and threaten them with the arrival of Erza to get them to behave, which normally worked just as well as Erza herself. As for the other members of the guild, they would occasionally tell the idiots to stop, well, being idiots but that only lasted until they started cheering for one of them.

"C'mon Natsu!" Happy cheered enthusiastically as he waved a fish in the air, "I know you can do it!"

The blonde raised an eyebrow at the Exceed,

"Shouldn't we be stopping them instead of egging them on? If they keep going they're going to destroy the guild again."

The cat chuckled behind his paw,

"Why don't you step in and stop them Lucy? You can be really scary sometimes; especially when you're hungry."

"Hey!" She placed her hands on her hips and leered at Happy, "I am not, you stupid cat! Anyways, I'm not stupid enough to get in the middle of that; they might just take my head off."

Lucy felt that her reasoning was more than justified while she watched the two mages; Gray had just flipped Natsu over his shoulder into a table causing it to split right down the middle. That table could've been her if she were to try and get in between those two bone heads. She rolled her eyes as the raven placed his hand on his bicep triumphantly and struck a pose; she couldn't help but shake her head at his overconfidence. He wouldn't be near as flippant right now if Erza were to walk through the front doors.

"Take that squinty eyes!" Gray cackled victoriously, "I told you that you wouldn't be able to beat me!"

Natsu rubbed the back of his head and scowled,

"Like hell you ice bastard!"

"Oh yeah?" The ice mage cracked his knuckles, "Prove it! I'll beat your ass so hard that you'll be puking up ice chunks for weeks!"

And of course in the next second the boys were at it again; only now the two dumbasses decided it would end the fight faster if they used magic. It wasn't long before ice started coating the floor and nearby tables; people even had to dodge or risk being frozen by the fighting ice mage. And if things weren't getting frozen, they were being burned instead. She watched as Elfman was holding Ever back because her green dress had managed to get singed in the crossfire. Lucy tilted her head she took in the presence of the stone mage…

Wasn't she supposed to be with the Thunder Legion on a mission today?

"Go Gray-sama!" Juvia cheered suddenly from beside her; her hands clasped to her chest and hearts in her eyes, "Juvia knows that you can win this battle over Juvia's heart!"

Lucy sweatdropped as she placed her hand on the water mage's shoulder,

"Ah, Juvia? I think you're missing the point here…"

The blunette scowled at the celestial mage and crossed her arms,

"Lucy is just trying to distract Juvia from Gray-sama so that she can steal Gray-sama's love!"

"That really isn't going to be a problem…" She winced at the dark aura that radiated off her eccentric friend; her hands held up in surrender.

However, her attention was drawn from Juvia when the dragon slayer roared loudly and jumped to his feet (Gray must have knocked him over again at some point) running full speed towards the ice mage. He leaned his head down in what appeared to be an attempt to head butt Gray only for the raven to move out of the way. However, it seemed Natsu wasn't done as he kicked out a leg and caught Gray in the jaw with his fiery foot sending the ice mage crashing into the corner of a nearby table.

Lucy grimaced at the sound of the ice mage's head connecting with the wooden edge. On the upside, it didn't break this time. The guild's cheering and laughing echoed around her as her eyes were drawn away from the still form of Gray and towards the dragon slayer who was shouting at the top of his lungs about his victory. However, she knew that was bound to change once Gray got back to his feet…it was a never ending cycle with those two.

"HA!" Natsu laughed boisterously as he pointed towards the ice mage, "Take that, you damn ice cube! What was that you said about beating me?!"

After that proclamation from Natsu she, along with the rest of the guild, was expecting an annoyed response from Gray; but strangely enough, it was disturbingly silent. Lucy turned her head towards the raven on the other side of the guild and frowned when she realized that he hadn't moved. She opened her mouth to say something about it when she heard a huff of annoyance come from Natsu.

"What's wrong with you, ice princess?" He growled, "Are you flaking out on me? Did you finally figure out that I'm _better_ than you?"

Surely Gray would react to that; if there was one thing the ice mage couldn't stand, it was for Natsu, or anyone for that matter, to stomp all over his pride and question his worth as a mage. Her eyebrows furrowed as she noticed that that also didn't get a reaction from Gray. As Juvia started yelling at Natsu for 'insulting' her precious Gray-sama, Lucy decided to make her way towards the still floored ice mage; something didn't seem right about this.

She walked closer to Gray, prepared to punch him in the face if he was faking this entire time to see if Natsu would inspect him, to see what was wrong with him. She ignored the loudness of the guild in the background and focused on what was happening with the ice mage. However, when she wasn't even a meter away, she knew exactly what was wrong.

"Wendy!" She called over to the young dragon slayer as she brought a hand to her mouth and knelt next to Gray's head.

"Lucy-san?" Wendy inquired softly, "What's wrong?"

"G-Gray's bleeding."

With that statement the guild went dead silent.

She watched as the colour seemed to drain from the sky dragon slayer's face as she ran over to where Lucy and Gray were. Lucy watched mutely as Wendy seemed to look over the ice mage to see where the bleeding was coming from when she felt intense heat appear at her back. She looked up to see Natsu standing over all three of them with his arms folded over his chest.

"The ice block is probably fine," He shrugged his shoulders, "We make each other bleed all the time! He's just being a wuss about losing."

"Gray-sama is not a wuss!" Juvia yelled with a red face as she shoved Natsu out of the way to kneel next to Lucy, "Juvia thinks he's way stronger than you'll ever be!"

The pinkette scoffed and rolled his eyes,

"Well, you're the only one who thinks that. I'm not the one laying on the floor."

The blonde ignored the two while they bickered; when it came to Gray they would probably never see eye to eye. Lucy continued to watch Wendy as she searched for the injury that may have caused Gray to end up like this, but noticed that she was getting flustered because she couldn't find it. Lucy narrowed her eyes as she remembered that Gray had struck his head on the table when he went down. She tentatively reached forward and brushed her hand through Gray's raven bangs to see if she could spot an injury.

She nearly gagged when she felt something wet on her fingers; why the hell did boys have to get so sweaty all the time?! She pulled her hand away so that she could wipe the sweat off her fingers only for Natsu's familiar warm hand to latch around her wrist. She glanced up at him in question, but quickly found her answer without voicing it.

Her hand was drenched in red.

Wendy gasped in surprise from beside her, before the healer's small hands carefully pushed aside Gray's bangs to reveal a gaping wound on Gray's left temple; around the same area as the scar he received from Galuna Island. Lucy felt her blood covered hand drop to her side as Natsu released it. She found herself looking up at the dragon slayer once more; he had a deep frown on his face that to others may seem like annoyance. But she could see the worry that was in his honey-green eyes as he looked at his friend.

"He's going to be fine," He clenched his fists at his sides, "Droopy eyes is okay; he's just needs a break, that's all."

"Natsu…"

"Gray-sama!" Juvia reached out for the ice mage, "Juvia will take care of you; she promises."

Lucy resisted the urge to face palm,

"Let's just let Wendy do her job, and then we'll keep an eye on him until he wakes up."

Wendy nodded her head in determination as the green light around her hands seemed to brighten as she held them over Gray's forehead. As she consoled Juvia, she couldn't help but think about Natsu; he was being strangely quiet. She figured that it was probably because even though the two idiots hurt each other sometimes while they were fighting, something like this rarely happened. And if something like this happened, it was mostly due to Erza punching them for being reckless and stupid.

"You know Natsu," She tried to smile at him, "He's going to be alright; you even said so yourself."

The dragon slayer sighed,

"I know and Wendy's the best healer out there, so of course the idiot is going to be yelling at me about this tomorrow."

Lucy couldn't help but chuckle,

"Of course he is."

Natsu seemed to relax slightly as his arms became uncrossed and fell to his sides. The members of the guild, who were also a little tense from the turn of events, also relaxed as they resumed their talking and drinking as if nothing had happened. Lucy watched as Wendy took her hands of Gray's forehead and wiped her own forehead with the back of her hand.

"Natsu-san?" She called to the older dragon slayer, "Do you think you can carry Gray-san up to the infirmary; he needs a proper place to rest."

"Sure thing Wendy," He smiled softly, "And why don't you take a rest too, huh? You're looking tired yourself."

The blunette nodded her head,

"I will Natsu-san, don't worry!"

Lucy slowly got to her feet with a sobbing Juvia attached to her side as Natsu lifted Gray up off the ground. For a moment, she had a picture of Natsu carrying the ice mage up to the infirmary as if he were a bride; where the dragon slayer would gently lay him on the bed and tuck him in, brushing raven locks out of Gray's closed eyes...however, that fantasy was quickly dashed by Natsu slinging the unconscious Gray over his shoulder and bounding unceremoniously up the stairs.

But what else would she expect?

She worried her lip as she thought about what would happen if Gray wasn't actually okay. Natsu would probably blame himself, but not acknowledge the fact that he was blaming himself; it just seemed like something the dragon slayer would do. But, like Natsu said, this was Gray. The first thing he would do would be to curse at the dragon slayer for giving him the headache that he was bound to have when he wakes up and then demand Natsu for a rematch.

Yeah, that's _exactly_ what would happen.

FTFTFTFT

When he woke up his head was pounding.

He tentatively put his hand on his forehead and winced at the pain he felt there. He ran his fingers gingerly over the spot and frowned when he felt the roughness of cloth under his fingertips. He frowned as he looked around the room he seemed to be situated in; where the heck was he anyways? He took in the wooden ceiling and walls, as well as the strange draft that seemed to blow throughout the room. He shivered slightly and crossed his arms over his chest for some semblance of warmth only to pause in confusion.

Why didn't he have a shirt on?

He glanced around the room for anything that could have been his shirt, but didn't see the garment anywhere near him. He pulled the blanket off his lap so that he could get out of the bed and see if he could find someone who could give him some answers. He stiffened as he felt the draft hit his legs. He slowly glanced down to realize that he was only in his boxers. Was he mugged or something? That would explain why he wouldn't have anything and why he seemed to be injured.

Maybe the people who found him could fill him in.

He felt his cheeks redden in embarrassment as he thought of the predicament he must have found himself in; whatever it was, couldn't have been pretty. He yanked the sheet off the bed he was using and wrapped it around his shoulders as he tiptoed towards the wooden door that resided on the other side of the room. He paused as he was about to wrap his fingers around the door handle.

What if these people were dangerous?

What if they were holding him captive or torturing him for something?

What if he couldn't trust these people? After all, they must have just found him on the street or something.

What if he was the one who attacked them and they needed him for information?

He knew nothing about where he was or why he was there. All he knew was that he was hurt and he was almost completely naked; hell, he couldn't even remember his own name…

His chest tightened.

He didn't know his own _name_.

He swallowed thickly and clutched the blanket tighter around himself as he hovered near the door. Not only was he in a strange place, but he couldn't remember who he was either. He felt the right side of his chest burn and he rubbed it absently to try and ease the pain. He took a deep breath before deciding to reach for the handle once more. Even if he didn't know where or who he was, there was only one way for him to get answers. He had to pull himself together if he ever wanted to know what the hell was going on.

He pushed the door open and nearly stumbled through it and onto a wooden balcony. As soon as he was through the door, he was bombarded with a cacophony of sound. He creeped over to the railing and poked his head over it. He immediately noticed the hoard of people who were all sitting in stools and chairs drinking and laughing with each other. For some reason, his chest warmed at the sight, but he couldn't figure out why. He shook his head and focused on finding a way downstairs; he could definitely ask these people what was going on, they don't seem too dangerous.

A few meters away from him, he noticed a staircase that spiraled down towards the main floor. He once again found himself tugging the blanket around his shoulders even tighter as he walked to the stairs; why the hell couldn't he be wearing clothes?!

What a way to make a first impression on people, god this was embarrassing. He walked down the stairs as softly as he could as not to disturb the people who had saved his life; they could be a bunch of hooligans for all he knew.

On the third to last step, the wood beneath his feet let out a protesting creak causing him to wince at the sound. He glared at the step for making the sound, but slowly raised his head as the noise that had previously engulfed the room had gone silent. He swallowed nervously and tried to smile at the people who were staring at him with varying expressions.

"Uh," He coughed to clear his throat, "Hi?"

The hall suddenly erupted to life nearly causing him to fall on his ass in surprise. He stumbled back on the step, but managed to grab a hold of the rail before anything too embarrassing happened. He cursed under his breath and righted himself just in time for him to be taken off guard by another body running into his; and this time he did manage to fall to the ground, wincing as his lower back banged into the corner of the stairs.

"Gray-sama!" A voice trilled into his ear, "Juvia is happy you're okay!"

He struggled to pull himself away from the leech (girl?) who had latched herself around his middle. He felt his cheeks burn as her pale arms tightened around his lower waist precariously close to the waistband of his boxers. He chuckled nervously as he grabbed onto her arms, gently mind you, and pried her off of him.

"Juvia-san!" A higher pitched voice called out worriedly, "I told you to be careful with Gray-san when he woke up; he was hurt pretty bad, you know?"

He looked up to see a somewhat timid girl with dark blue hair and wide brown eyes staring in his direction in concern. He opened his mouth to ask her what was wrong, but stopped when a blonde girl stood beside the blue haired girl and put her hands on her hips as she shook her head.

"Honestly Juvia," She scolded the girl beside him teasingly, "Do you want to knock Gray out so soon after waking up?"

He flinched slightly at the dark aura that seemed to sprout up beside him as the girl (Juvia?) blew up like a puffer fish and stalked towards the blonde girl with purpose in her ocean blue eyes. The girl who tackled him stood in front of the blonde with her hands on her hips as well.

"Juvia would never hurt Gray-sama." The blunette stated furiously, "Lucy is only jealous because she wasn't the one to do it first!"

He stared at the two girls in confusion as he watched Juvia, at least he thought that was her name, tower over the blond with intimidation. His eyebrows furrowed as he thought of the altercation that just happened; they kept referring to him to 'Gray', was that his name? He squinted his eyes thoughtfully; did that mean he actually knew these people somehow?

"Oi ice boy," A gruff voice sounded from behind him, "What's up with you? You don't smell right."

A chill swept down his spine and he jumped almost a mile into the air at the unexpected voice. He found himself tripping over the blanket he had wrapped around himself and falling towards the floor once again. Luckily, his descent was stopped by hand clasping around his wrist like a vice which pulled him upright. He stared into the eyes of an imposingly tall male with long raven hair, piercing red eyes and silver studs all over his face. Seriously, how did he meet all these strange people?

"Wow, you're jumpy." The man smirked, "What, are you afraid of little old me?"

Not that he would admit it out loud, but yes he was very afraid damnit! He tried to smile at the man reassuringly, but something must've been off because the silver studded man dropped his wrist and stared at him with a calculating expression. He shifted under the man's gaze, but kept their gaze connected; who knows what this guy would do to him if he showed fear.

"Gray?"

He blinked for a few moments before he remembered that that was apparently _his_ name. He whipped around to face a fairly tall platinum blonde haired girl wearing a pink dress. He couldn't help but relax a little bit when he looked into her sapphire eyes; she wasn't nearly as frightening as the man who was speaking to him just minutes ago.

"Uh, yeah?" He played with the blanket wrapped around his shoulders.

The girl smiled softly,

"Do you want me to get you anything? Like a glass of water or something to eat?"

He swayed slightly before rubbing the back of his neck,

"It would actually be awesome if you could help me find my clothes; they, uh, they seemed to have disappeared on me…"

If he felt that the room had gotten silent when he first entered, it was nothing compared to what was happening now. He was positive that if someone were to drop a pin onto the floor right now, everyone would be able to hear the resounding sound. It was as if all breathing had stopped and he was the only one doing so. His eyes shifted around the room nervously as the right side of his chest burned again.

"Did…did I say something wrong, or?"

"Ah, no!" The blonde, he thought her name Lucy, suddenly chirped while shaking her head back and forth, "We were just, uh…"

"You're being weird ice boy," The man with the gruff voice interrupted from behind him, "It's creeping us out."

"Gajeel!" Another girl with short blue hair scolded him and punched him the arm, "Don't be rude!"

He frowned slightly at the pair in confusion,

"Another thing, why do you keep calling me 'ice boy'? I do have a name you know…" (Even if he himself didn't know his own name only moments ago).

Clearly he was blowing minds today, because the room was again shocked into silence; he was even sure that he caught a few of them rubbing their eyes or pinching themselves. He stiffened under everyone's gazes and pulled the blanket tighter around himself; honestly, what was so bad about him asking for clothes?

"Look," He sighed uncomfortably, "Thank you for all you've done for me, but I think I've overstayed my welcome; I'll pay you guys back for what you've done and then you won't have to worry about seeing me again, okay?"

He went to leave the guild only to feel arms wrap around him once more,

"Gray-sama, don't leave; Juvia still cares about you even though you don't remember her. Juvia will make you hers again."

He stiffened briefly before moving away from her; why was this girl so damn clingy? He shrunk away from the burning gazes that zeroed in on him as if he were some creature in an exhibit. He found himself jumping slightly (again) when he felt a hand fall onto his forearm. He glanced beside him to see that the small blue haired girl was looking up at him sadly; in fact, he was pretty sure that he could see tears in her eyes.

"Gray-san," She whispered tearfully, "I'm sorry…I thought you would be okay, I tried my best; I'm sorry."

He felt his heart twinge from the girl's tears. He frowned and instinctively placed his hand on her head and patted her blue hair gently. He tried to soften his gaze to prove that he really was okay, even if he didn't feel it. He didn't know what it was, but something about this girl made him want to treat her as if he was her older brother; even if he didn't know anything about being one.

"It's okay," He told her, "I'm sure you did everything you could."

Her lip quivered before a small, watery smile broke across her face. She sniffled and wiped the tears out of her eyes in an attempt to pull herself together. She tightened her grip on his forearm and then let go of him and wrapped her arms behind her back.

"Thank you Gray-san," She tilted her head and smiled softly, "By the way, my name is Wendy and I'm a Sky Dragon slayer."

His eyebrows furrowed at the strange term. It tickled something in the back of his brain, but other than that his mind was a void space. By the expectant look that the blunette was giving him, he knew that he was supposed to say something in return…he just didn't know what. He didn't know where the hell he was, how the hell was he expected to know what a 'dragon slayer' was. If he had to guess it had something to do with killing dragons, only that didn't make sense since not only did dragons _not_ exist but the girl standing in front of him now couldn't be more than twelve years old.

"Gray?" The blonde called out to him, "Are you okay?"

He jolted slightly before looking at her,

"Uh yeah, I'm fine."

He shivered as he felt her sharp gaze roaming over him. He knew that she was trying to get a read on him; that she was trying to understand. The blonde took a hesitant step forward before she slowly walked towards him. He clenched the blanket tighter around himself the closer that she got to him. He was faintly aware of Juvia ranting about something in the background, but he didn't dare move his eyes from Lucy as she stopped in front of him.

"How," Her hand twitched at her side, "How much do you remember?"

He avoided her gaze by looking at the floor; he couldn't bring himself to answer. But clearly the fact that he didn't say anything was answer enough. He jumped when he felt another hand grab onto his. He watched as Lucy slowly pried one of his hands away from the blanket he was touching. He fought the urge to yank his hand away when he noticed her looking at his appendage with a mournful expression.

When he felt his cheeks starting to heat up from the close contact, he pulled his hand away. He brought it close to himself once more and took in the morose expressions around the room. It was as if they were remembering someone who died. The right side of his chest burned again causing him to press his hand against it in an attempt to soothe it. He closed his eyes sadly; if he really was friends with these people, it wouldn't be going too far for him to say that he did die…at least the part of him that remembered them did.

"Listen Gray," Lucy paused and bit her lip, "Is it okay if we call you that?"

He found himself shifting his gaze to the floor again,

"That's my name isn't it?"

"Yeah," She answered happily; though even to him it sounded false, "If you want, I can help you get home; you can rest for a bit…"

"Actually," He interrupted her as he looked up to the second floor, "Would it be alright if I slept here?"

The blonde paused for a moment before she looked at the platinum blonde haired girl. They seemed to exchange a glance before Lucy nodded her head in agreement.

"I don't see why not if you're more comfortable with it." She played with the ends of her hair, "I can get someone to stop by your house and get you some clothes?"

He pulled the blanket tighter around himself and nodded once before he started backing towards the staircase once more. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed that Juvia was about to pounce on him again only for the intimidating man from earlier (Ga-something?) to grab onto the woman tightly to stop her from going anywhere. A glint seemed to pass through her ocean blue eyes and he swore that her pale skin was becoming transparent.

"Juvia-san!" Wendy called to the older girl, "Don't, you'll scare Gray-san!"

Scare him? What could that girl possibly do to scare him? He thought back to the way that she tackled him earlier and felt sweat drop down the back of his neck; okay, maybe she was a little bit scary. Surprisingly, Juvia seemed to listen to Wendy and she settled down; though tears were now dripping down her cheeks. He shifted uncomfortably at the base of the stairs, not knowing what to do, when he decided it would be best for him to leave them be. If he was uncomfortable, there was no doubt in his mind that they were all feeling uncomfortable as well.

"Uh," He swallowed, "I'm going to head upstairs now…if you guys need me…"

Without letting anyone answer, he ran up the staircase and across the landing until he was in front of the door he had so bravely ventured out of earlier. From his place by the door he listened as the once loud group of people sat in complete and utter silence. He reached for the handle again and went to push the door open so he could leave the people to whatever they were going to do. However, as he was about to close the door behind him an unfamiliar voice drifted over to him through the silence.

"Natsu-nii won't like hearing about this."

He shook his head slightly; maybe he was hearing things. He wandered over to the bed as exhaustion started to catch up with him. He crawled onto the firm mattress and untangled himself from the sheet he was caring around his shoulders. He righted the white blanket so that it covered his body and buried his head into the pillow as a sharp chill wracked his body.

 _Natsu-nii…_

Instead of the customary right side, the left side of his chest seemed to burn in its place. He rubbed at the spot absently as he let his eyes drift shut. For some reason the name made him feel very warm; the chilliness residing in his body receding even if it was a little bit. He snuggled into the blanket and curled into a tight ball. His mind slowly drifted into sleep as the soft sound of the group of people downstairs seemed to lull him like a sweet song.

FTFTFTFT

Natsu sighed happily as he rubbed his full belly.

He had just spent the last of his jewel on a huge buffet style dinner, but damn was it worth it. He let out a loud belch and laughed loudly as nearby villagers looked at him in disgust; well _some_ of them did, most of them just smiled and shook their heads at him fondly. The dragon slayer had been in Magnolia for over ten years now; they knew what he was like. He sighed with a look of relaxation on his face as he glanced up at his friend who was flying beside him.

"Was that meal or what?" He smiled contentedly, "Definitely the best I've had in a while; I'm all fired up!"

"Aye sir!" Happy cheered enthusiastically, "That fish was so yummy! We need to go back sometime Natsu! Maybe we can bring Carla, Wendy, Lucy, Erza and Gray next time; it would be more fun if they were there!"

"Yeah," Natsu nodded in agreement before grinning slyly, "Speaking of that ice bastard, I wonder if that lazy ass has woken up yet."

Happy laughed as he landed on Natsu's pink locks,

"Are you going to challenge him to another fight?"

"Well yeah," He folded his arms across his chest, "There's no way he'll take the last loss lying down."

Natsu found himself zoning out as Happy babbled on about his and Gray's upcoming rematch. The pinkette nodded to himself at the thought of the ice princess demanding they have a round three. Even if the ice idiot was injured, nothing would stop him from getting his revenge on his rival. Natsu smiled softly and lifted one of his hands from his sides before clenching the appendage into a fist in front of his face. He pushed the image of Gray's blood covered face to the back of his mind. No matter how much he denied it, the ice bastard was strong; he'd be back on his feet in no time.

"Natsu!~" Happy sung in his ear, "Whatcha thinking about? You have a funny look on your face."

The dragon slayer jerked out of his thoughts,

"I do not!"

"Do to~" The Exceed's cheeks puffed up as his little paw covered his laughter, "You look like Lucy when she's talking about _love_ ~"

Natsu scowled petulantly and crossed his arms over his chest,

"No I don't! I'm not a girl! I don't care about that stuff Happy, stop being weird."

He ignored as Happy once again laughed sneakily behind his paw; there must have been something in the food that the Exceed ate to make him act strangely. He frowned at the slight burning feeling that appeared in his chest. Maybe he ate something funny too; it wouldn't really surprise him too much, he didn't really think about what he was shoving into his mouth at the time. He was too busy trying to distract himself from the fact that he hurt the ice princess…

Natsu nearly tripped over his own feet causing the cat to dislodge from the top of his head.

"Hey!" Happy called sadly, "If you wanted me off your head you could have said so."

However, the dragon slayer barely even heard him; he was too busy going over what he had just thought about moments before. Since when has he ever been _worried_ about Gray of all people; the droopy eyed asshole could take care of himself just fine damnit. And it's like he told Lucy, it's not as if he hasn't hurt his rival before; it was a common outcome when the two of them sparred each other. How was this time any different?

 _Because, this time he didn't get back up…_

Natsu shook the thought out of his mind once again; Gray was going to be fine damnit. Even if he didn't get back up, Wendy is one of the best healers in the land of Fiore she would be able to heal him for sure. He just needed to stop worrying about the jerk. He was being a drama queen; there was nothing wrong with his friend. He turned towards Happy with his signature goofy smile on his face and he rubbed the back of his head.

"Sorry about that pal, I tripped over my own feet; I didn't mean for you to fall off."

"Okay Natsu," Happy smiled brightly and reclaimed his perch, "Let me know if I get too heavy!"

The dragon slayer chuckled,

"Nah, that's impossible!"

The two friends babbled at each nonsensically the rest of the way to the guild hall. As he talked with his Exceed, Natsu couldn't help but feel a little guilty. With all the stuff that has been happening lately, he hadn't really had a chance to hang out with Happy like this in a long time. After being frozen in time for seven years, then preparing for the Grand Magic Games, participating in the Games and then having to save Crocus and the rest of Fiore from falling to Future Rogue and the dragons, there hadn't been a lot of time for the two of them to do things together.

That was the case for a lot of the people in Fairy Tail. Of course now everyone was able to take quests again now that they were once again the top guild in Fiore, but he couldn't help but think things were just starting to escalate out of control. Even to him, a mage that just cared about fighting, getting stronger and keeping his friends and family safe, was starting to realize that they've had to fight for their lives a lot more than they used to. Not that he would complain about it. After all, he was still with his family and that's all that mattered; as long as nothing changed, as long as no one would have to die, he would be happy.

If his friends continued to smile and live, he couldn't be happier fighting alongside them against even the darkest of enemies. His friends were his strength; it was because of them that he was able to find the will to stand and fight.

He chuckled to himself at the thoughts that were going through his head; maybe Happy was right, he was starting to sound like Lucy and her sappy novels. He smiled brightly as he saw the guild hall standing proudly in the distance. It was good to see his family could be happy after so many years of sadness. However, he found that he had spoken too soon. As he approached the guild hall, the scent of fear and sadness seemed to be flowing like a turbulent river from behind the close doors.

Seeming to sense his unease, Happy stopped talking and lifted himself off Natsu head to fly beside him; prepared to stand by his friend's side at a moment's notice. Natsu's hands tingled as his magic started to ignite in his veins; he had no idea what he would find once he opened that door. With his natural flamboyance, the dragon slayer kicked open the door with his hands blazing and a battle cry on his lips. However, he was relieved (and a little bit confused) to see the inside of the guild intact and the members staring at him with wide eyes. Despite even that, he wasn't relieved enough to completely relax; something was still wrong…the guild was too quiet.

Tables weren't flying…

Cana wasn't drinking…

Macao and Wakaba weren't arguing…

Elfman wasn't shouting about being a man…

Did Erza and Gramps return early or something?

His eyes wandered over the solemn members of the Fairy Tail guild until his gaze landed on the table that housed the presences of Lucy, Wendy, Carla, Juvia, Gajeel, Lily and Levy. He frowned as he took in the saddened expressions on the girls' faces and the dumbfounded-confused expression that took over Gajeel and Lily's faces. As if the guild being sad wasn't enough, the fact that Gajeel was emotionally reacting to whatever had happened while he was gone was a sign in itself.

No matter what happened to the guild or its members, usually he could count on the older dragon slayer acting like his cocky and annoying self. The fact that the iron slayer wasn't able to maintain his façade worried him a bit, even if he wouldn't admit it aloud.

"Uh guys?" He finally spoke, "Did something happen while I was gone?"

His frown deepened as Lucy jumped in surprise,

"Natsu! You're back; how was your dinner with Happy?"

"That's not important," Natsu waved the question off, "What is important is why everyone is so gloomy all of a sudden; when I left you guys were ready to party well into the night…did something happen to Gramps and Erza?"

"No!" Lucy shouted without hesitation, "The Master and Erza are fine, as far as we know anyways, it's…it's about something else…"

"Lucy~" Happy whined as he flew onto the blonde's lap, "You're taking too long; if Erza and the Master are okay, why is everyone so sad? I really don't like it you know."

"Well obviously we don't like it very much either tomcat," Carla stated dishearteningly from beside Wendy, "But you have to understand that you missed a crucial event while you were eating."

Natsu opened his mouth to tell his friends to just hurry up and tell him what the hell was going on, when he was suddenly tackled by Wendy; her small pale arms wrapping tightly around his middle. A small 'oof' sound escaped him from the unexpected contact, but he instinctively started to pat her head in an effort to comfort the young dragon slayer.

"Oi Wendy," Natsu smiled softly, "What's wrong? There's no need for you to be crying…"

The blunette sniffled loudly and pressed her face into his vest,

"No Natsu-san, you don't understand! I messed up, I'm sorry!"

"Messed up?" His eyebrows furrowed in confusion, "What do you mean 'messed up'?"

He was once again met with silence and the sound of Wendy's sobs; honestly it was as if someone died in the past three hours. He shifted his attention to Gajeel who was scowling darkly at the table; the dumfounded look still on his face. Natsu narrowed his eyes at the iron dragon slayer as he gently released the grip that Wendy had on his waist.

"Metal head," Natsu stalked towards the older mage, "Stop brooding and tell me what everyone else refuses to; you like to be the rebel and do the opposite of everyone else."

Gajeel rolled his eyes,

"You're not going to like what we're going to have to say flame head…"

"I don't care if I'll like it or not!" Natsu roared as he grabbed the front of the raven's shirt, "Tell me what the hell is going on!"

"Natsu," Lucy whispered as her hand clenched into a fist, "Calm down…"

"No," Gajeel cut her off; his red eyes never leaving his fellow dragon slayer's, "He's right, we can't keep the truth from him forever; Ice boy's not going to stay upstairs."

The pinkette's eyes widened,

"Gray? What does this have to do with the stripper? Did he get off his lazy ass yet?"

"Natsu-san," Wendy sniffled again, "Gray-san…I messed up…"

The dragon slayer felt a chill go down his spine at the younger mage's repeated confession. His magic tingled in his palms once more as he found his eyes drawn to the second floor. If Wendy was saying that she 'messed up' it had to be something to do with what happened to his rival when Natsu had caused him to hit his head off the table. No, he shook his head adamantly, that couldn't be it. Wendy was the best healer in all of Fiore (besides the old hag of course), maybe she was just confused or worried over nothing.

"I told you Wendy," He placed his hand on her shaking shoulder, "He's going to be fine; he has to be."

"But he's not Natsu-san," Wendy shook her head solemnly, "Not this time."

The dragon slayer scowled,

"Well what's wrong with him then? It can't be something you did."

"Gray-sama…" He turned his head to the teary water mage, "Gray-sama can't remember Juvia."

His eyebrows furrowed at the statement before it slowly became amused. Maybe the asshole was trying to play a trick on the guild; that had to be it. Or maybe he was acting worse off than he was so that he could get Juvia to leave him alone. However, the faint amusement that blossomed within him flashed away in a snap of a finger. As much as Gray was annoyed by the water mage sometimes, he would never go so far as to make her cry; along with everyone in guild for that matter.

If there was any sign that his joke was going too far, Gray would stop; that was just who he was and as much as this begrudged him, Natsu knew this about his rival/best friend. But at the same time, Gray not remembering Juvia… that didn't make sense either.

"Careful flame head," Gajeel jeered from the table, "If you try and think any harder, your brain is going to explode."

"Shut up! My brain won't explode!" Or, at least he hoped it wouldn't.

"Listen Natsu," Lucy fiddled with her hands on the table, "Gray…Gray doesn't remember Juvia, or Wendy, or Gajeel, or me, or the guild, or Fairy Tail, or magic…"

The dragon slayer felt his eyes widen with each word that she said and his world all but stopped as the next thing tumbled out of her mouth,

"…He couldn't even remember his own name, Natsu…we had to tell him what it was."

Natsu clenched his fists tightly to his sides as his heart thudded in his chest. He could feel his hands getting warmer as his blunt nails dug into his palms. There was no way that this could be happening; this couldn't be real. There was no way that Gray would forget his own name, there was no way he would forget Fairy Tail…his _family_ …this had to be a joke! There was no way that Gray wouldn't be able to remember _him_. All this because Gray had banged his head on the table by accident…

All this because Natsu hit him too hard.

"No."

"Natsu-san," Wendy whispered, "I'm so sorry…"

"No," Natsu shook his head adamantly, "I told you Gray is going to be fine; he just needs more rest is all."

"Nat…"

"No Lucy!" He growled furiously, "I'm telling you that Gray is fine! He would never forget us; not in a billion years, not after everything we've been through!"

Silence reached his ears the last of his sentence echoed throughout the guild hall. He took in the mournful and pitying expressions on his family's faces and he felt as though his inner flame died a little within him; no one had any hope left anymore…it was as if the light of Fairy Tail had been extinguished. Natsu clenched his fists so tightly that his knuckles cracked audibly; he wasn't going to let Gray forget them like that!

"I'll make him remember." He hissed.

"Really Natsu?" Happy perked up from the table; the tears that had apparently started falling down his cheeks slowly coming to a stop, "Do you think you can do that?"

"I have to," Natsu narrowed his eyes, "I'll make him remember even if it means that I have to hit him over the head again."

"Uh," Lucy stuttered nervously, "I think that would actually do more harm than good…"

"I'm with Lucy-san on this one," Wendy looked at the older dragon slayer with wide eyes, "Natsu-san you don't want to accidentally hurt him even more…"

Natsu barely suppressed the flinch that wracked his frame; Wendy was right, he wouldn't be able to use force this time. He frowned to himself; what would Erza do in a situation like this? Who was he kidding, she'd probably jump to violence first too…but what about Gramps? As if a lightbulb went off in his head, he turned on his heel and started to make his way towards the front doors of the guild.

"Wait Natsu!" Lucy called out to him, "Where are you going?!"

"I'm sorry!" Wendy shouted tearfully, "I didn't mean it!"

He paused mid-step and turned to face the now confused gazes of his family,

"I know that Wendy, but I meant when I said I was going to get Gray's memories back."

"Well duh," Gajeel rolled his eyes, "We got that part, the question was _where_ were you going? Are you just going to sulk somewhere because this was your fault?"

"Gajeel!" Levy smacked the back of his head, "Don't blame him; It was an accident. We all know he'd never hurt Gray on purpose no matter how much they fight."

"No Levy," Natsu muttered, "I know it's my fault that the ice princess can't remember us, but I'm going to fix it; I just need to pick someone up first."

Lucy furrowed her eyebrows in confusion,

"Pick someone up?"

Natsu opened his mouth to answer when Juvia pushed herself out of her seat and stood up. Sniffling and wiping her eyes of tears, the water mage walked over to Natsu and stood in front of him resolutely. She folded her hands together as she looked at the dragon slayer with watery ocean eyes.

"Let Juvia come with you," She stated, "Juvia knows where you're going and she'd like to help Gray-sama in any way that she can."

He smiled brightly of her,

"Sure why not; the ice bastard is more likely to listen to you than me anyways."

"'Ice bastard'?" Mira voiced from the bar with a tilt of her head, "That's what you call Gray isn't it?"

"Yup," Natsu smirked as he turned towards the doors and pushed them open, "But all of you know that there's two of them."

He heard Lucy incredulous voice as the doors shut behind him and Juvia,

"YOU'RE GOING TO LAMIA SCALE?!"

He couldn't help but chuckle to himself as the water mage walked silently by his side. He didn't know what it was, but he had a strong feeling that meeting Lyon wasn't going to go well.

"Natsu…"

"What is it Juvia?" He glanced at her from the corner of his eye, "Did you forget something?"

"Juvia didn't forget anything…" She smiled at him sadly, "But you seem to have forgotten that the Lamia Scale Guild is a fair distance away from Magnolia…"

He looked up at the starlit sky and smiled softly,

"Nah, I didn't forget."

Natsu could feel her eyes on him, but he couldn't give her a true answer; it would go against his very being to admit it aloud. But at this moment he couldn't find it within himself to complain about the train ride to Lamia Scale or attempt to get Juvia to walk all the way there; not this time. Gray, his friend, his rival, the one person he believed in with his entire being…finding a way to regain his lost memories was much more important than his aversion to transportation.

FTFTFTFT

She didn't know what the reason was, but she had a very _bad_ feeling.

Erza Scarlet, the S-Class Mage of Fairy Tail and nicknamed Titania: Queen of the Fairies, was not particularly fond of how silent the streets of Magnolia were. Given the fact that she and the Master had returned from the conference rather late (10:00pm to be exact), she shouldn't have been surprised to see that the residents of Magnolia were still resting safely in their beds. However, there seemed to be something _missing_ and she couldn't quite place her finger on what that was.

Her armoured footsteps clanked through the cobbled streets as her sharp brown eyes took in the surrounding area. Depending on the shop they passed there were signs of life; but other than that the town was dead. Her hand itched to call upon one of her swords or maybe even requip into stronger armour, but the Master's hand on her thigh halted her immediately. She didn't realize that she had actually stopped moving until that very moment.

"I apologize for my lagging Master," Erza looked down at Makarov, "I suppose we should continue on; who knows what kinds of destruction occurred while we've been travelling."

Makarov smiled painfully,

"Ah yes, I can only imagine what the guild will look like once we arrive; but something else seems to be bothering you child; do you mind sharing it with me?"

The red head clenched her fists by her sides as she kept her eyes focused on the cobbled street before her,

"It's nothing too important; I just have a feeling that something is amiss."

The Master hummed thoughtfully and tapped his chin; his wise eyes staring in the direction of the guild,

"I believe that you're quite right Erza; despite the hour, our guild seems fairly silent tonight."

Erza felt fear pound in her chest as she realized that the Master was absolutely right. Even if midnight was drawing closer, the members of Fairy Tail would still be partying and shouting. That was the usual for them and the fact that both she and the Master were gone for a conference would mean that the guild would be louder than normal. In fact, the last time she and the Master had left the guild, they had returned to the villagers heading towards the Fairy Tail Guild with pitch forks and torches because Natsu, Gray and many others were being too loud and destructive.

Of course she put an end to that very quickly.

Don't misunderstand her; she didn't lay a single hand on the villagers…however, the same couldn't be said for her idiot 'brothers'. If she remembered correctly she punished them so harshly that the ice mage and dragon slayer weren't able to go on missions for an entire month; you have to be able to physically move to be able to complete them.

She was pulled out of her thoughts by a slightly oppressive magic pressing down on her. Erza looked down immediately and noticed how agitated the Master was becoming. Without another word to her the Master started in the direction of the guild hall; purpose in every step that he took. Erza swallowed thickly and instantaneously called a sword into her hand. If she learned that someone had attacked her home while she was unable to protect it, she wouldn't hesitate to hunt down and slaughter them.

The two of them walked in silence as they drew closer and closer to the guild hall. However, the closer they got, they also seemed to sense a dark cloud looming over the guild; something was troubling her family and she didn't like that at all. In haste, she overtook her Master so that she reached the front doors first; if her family was being dispatched, the least she could do was protect the Master from seeing the destruction right away.

Without an ounce of hesitation, she kicked the front doors of the guild open so hard that they came flying off their hinges. She stood in the smoke caused by her forced entry with her sword raised to protect whoever she could from the intruders who were attacking their guild while they were gone…

"Erza, Master!" A familiar voice trilled, "I'm glad to see that you two made it back safely; how was the trip?"

The red haired mage blinked dumbly at the cavalier greeting from the takeover mage standing at the bar as she wiped it down. Her brown eyes shot around the guild surprised to see that everything was where it was supposed to be and that everyone seemed to be alright; but if that was true, why did something seem so off?

"The conference went as expected Mira," The Master walked around Erza his hands clenched at his sides; his power thrumming around him even still, "However, I must ask if everything is alright here; it was strangely _quiet_ when we returned."

Any signs of happiness that was present in the guild when she had kicked the door down was gone within an instant. She felt her heart drop into her stomach as she took in the mournful expressions on each of their faces. She glanced around the guild once more, taking account of everyone present, when she realized that there were two mages that were absent…

"Where are Natsu and Gray?" She demanded, "Are the idiots hiding from me because they broke something again?"

"Actually…"

Erza turned her head towards Lucy as she noticed the blonde walking over to her with Happy nestled in her arms; tears still drying on the Exceed's sad face. Did something happen to her brothers while she was gone? Why was everyone so upset? What possibly could've happened in the short time that they were at the conference?

"Natsu broke a table with Gray's head!" Happy sniffled once Lucy had reached Erza and the Master.

The requip mage opened her mouth to respond only to close it when words refused to come out. Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion at the statement; it was the most bizarre thing she'd heard in a while and this was Fairy Tail so that said something. After gathering herself, she opened her mouth to ask him to elaborate when Lucy did it for her.

"That's not nearly a good enough explanation cat," The blonde shook her head in disbelief, "What he means to say is that Natsu and Gray got into another fight while you two were gone…"

Now that was something Erza could understand,

"Then where are they, I must punish them severely for their careless actions; I'm surprised that guild is still standing with how long our absence was."

Lucy flinched slightly at her words causing her frown to deepen; what exactly did they get into this time? Her gaze drifted around the guild and she noticed that, like always, everyone's attention was on her and the Master but something about their stares seemed different. Even from where she stood, she could see the tears gathering in some of their eyes and she could see the sadness that seemed to permeate the very air they breathed.

"Be patient Erza," The Master held up his hand, "You can punish them later, but I do not believe Lucy was done with her explanation."

"No Master," Lucy looked at the ground solemnly, "It happened so fast…one minute they were fighting, I honestly thought they were going to destroy the guild again, but the next moment Gray was on the ground and he wasn't getting up..."

Erza's chest tightened as the words left the celestial mage's mouth. There was no way that Natsu could've hurt Gray so badly that he wouldn't get back up; that wasn't the way the two of them were. She breathed heavily through her nose as she tried to process what Lucy had just told them, but it just wasn't happening; Natsu and Gray were careless, but not this careless. However, accidents did happen, so she could not fault Natsu for anything other than fighting in the first place.

"Where is Gray now?" The Master asked; a silver brow arched in curiosity.

Lucy seemed to clutch Happy closer to her chest as she spoke again,

"After Wendy healed him I asked Natsu to take him up to the infirmary…"

"Is that where he is?" Erza cut her off with a raised eyebrow, "You should've just told me that in the first place; I'm assuming Natsu ran off somewhere to cool off."

"No," The blonde shook her head frantically, "Well…maybe he kind of did, but not in the way that you think; Erza you haven't heard everything yet."

The red head raised a fine brow,

"Really? What more could I be missing?"

The celestial mage opened her mouth as if she were to respond only for it to close before anything could come out. Erza's heart tightened in her chest at the silence and the fact that more tears seemed to gather in her eyes. The red head looked up to the second floor and without hesitation set off towards the stairs.

"Erza wait," Lucy stepped forward to stop her when the requip mage held up her hand.

"Lucy, don't try to stop me," She warned sternly, "I need to see whatever is happening for myself."

"But..."

"No," The Master spoke; his arms folded over his chest and his eyes also focused on the second floor as well, "I agree with Erza, I feel that whatever you are trying to tell us needs to be witnessed with our own eyes instead of simply through your words; especially since it hurts you so much to divulge the events of Natsu and Gray's fight."

Not needing any other form of permission, Erza stormed up the staircase; her heart thudding against her chest armour as she approached the infirmary. She was faintly aware of the Master following her, along with a group of her guild mates, but she forced them to the back of her mind. All that mattered was that she got to the bottom of what happened while she and the Master were in Clover. Deep in her soul she had a feeling that she knew what the outcome of Gray and Natsu's brawl was, but she wouldn't let herself think about it.

She didn't want to believe it.

Even though Lucy couldn't tell her everything and even though Happy's one sentence wasn't near enough at the time, Erza was smart and she was able to put the pieces together. The pieces were coming together in her mind and she had no doubt that the Master came to the same conclusion that she did. She paused in front of the infirmary door and grabbed onto the handle; her arm tensed as she struggled to find the strength, the bravery, to push the door open.

She clenched her free fist at her side as she felt the burning gazes of the Master and the others as she slowly pushed the door open; the hinges creaking ever so slightly as she did so. Erza walked into the room, her footsteps clanking dully on the hardwood as she entered the room. She smiled softly when her gaze landed on the sleeping frame of her childhood friend.

Gray was curled up in the center of the mattress with his blanket wrapped around him like a cocoon; all that she could see clearly was the tuft of raven hair that appeared from underneath the blanket. However, her smile slowly fell of her face as she realized what that meant. She had known Gray for close to twelve years now and it's because of that she knew that the ice mage preferred to sprawl out on the mattress as he slept with the blanket covering more of the floor than his body.

He didn't even have to be awake and she already knew…

She stood frozen as the Master walked passed her and stood next to Gray's bed. She jumped when she felt a small hand wrap around hers comfortingly. Erza glanced down to see Wendy standing beside her; her brown eyes swimming with tears as her eyes remained locked on the Master. Erza looked back at the scene in front of her in time to see the Master start his awakening of Gray. She waited with baited breath as Gray slowly began to stir; a quiet groan slipping from his lips as he pushed himself into a sitting position.

"Good evening Gray," The Master placed his hand on the ice mage's knee, "I heard that you got into a bit of a predicament during my absence."

Erza had to look away as she immediately noticed the blank expression in Gray's gaze. There was absolutely no doubt in her mind now; this was a fact that she had to face. Gray didn't recognize the Master, he didn't recognize the guild or his family, he probably won't remember Natsu and he most likely doesn't remember her…

She released Wendy's hand and quietly backed out of the room; her eyes burning as anger, guilt and sadness welled in them. She needed to be strong for her other comrades; they lost someone too…she needed to be _strong_. Erza was barely out of the room before she reflexively slammed her fist into the doorframe; her emotions having no other outlet.

"Erza-san," Wendy's soft voice came from behind her, "Are you alright?"

For the first time in a long time, a broken smile appeared across her lips. She turned to face the sky dragon slayer with her fists clenched tightly to her sides. She swallowed back her sad emotions and tried to smile at the blunette encouragingly.

"I will be Wendy," She closed her eyes briefly, "I just needed a quick moment to myself."

"That's understandable," The sky dragon slayer nodded empathetically, "You've known Gray-san for a long time, right?"

"Yes," Erza nodded her head, "He was here from the first day I came to Fairy Tail; he truly hasn't changed too much since then either."

She flinched internally as she realized that Gray _had_ changed; he could no longer remember them. It was like learning about Jellal's amnesia only this seemed to hurt her ten times more. She loved Jellal and it hurt that he couldn't remember her, but at the same time she was grateful because he could live without the horrors that he caused haunting him for the rest of his life. Even if his memories were what Jellal wanted the most.

But Gray was different…

Gray…

Her first friend after the Tower of Heaven…

The boy who had persistently asked her for fights…

The boy who had successfully broken through her armoured heart…

Her strong, brash, mouthy, unbelievable brother…

Was gone.

But, at the same time she couldn't give up hope; if it were to be her in his position, she knew that he would do anything in his power to bring her memories back. The thought of Natsu's absence passed through her mind like lightning; a small smile spreading across her lips in realization.

"Did Natsu say when he was going to return?"

Wendy squealed in surprised and toyed with the hem of her dress,

"No, but Juvia-san went with him to Lamia Scale so that they could pick up someone; we think he's going to bring Lyon-san here."

"Well," She turned towards the infirmary, "If that's the case, then we should prepare for our guest's arrival."

Erza heard Wendy's affirmation as she entered the infirmary once more; Gray in deep conversation with the Master. She folded her arms across her chest and stood at attention. Her brown eyes never leaving her surrogate brother and the Master. It's true that at this point in time the Gray that they knew for the past twelve years or so was missing, but that didn't mean that he couldn't be found…And she knew that they'd find a way to bring Gray back to them, no matter the cost. She knew this without a doubt because this was Fairy Tail…

Fairy Tail was a family, they stuck together no matter the obstacle they faced…

And, they always came out the victor.

FTFTFTFT

He rubbed at his eyes absently as he suppressed a yawn.

He was forced awake in the middle of the night by the Master of the guild he was staying at so that he could answer a few questions; not that he was able to answer any of them. The short old man kept asking him how much he remembered from his past. Whether he remembered coming to Fairy Tail (which he learned was the name of the guild), whether he remembered anything about his childhood and whether he knew about the existence of magic. Imagine how surprised the Master was when he couldn't remember any of that.

Now, don't get him wrong. He knew of magic, at least he thought he did, but he didn't know that it was _real_. He didn't know that magic was part of everyday life; most importantly, he didn't know he had it. He stared at his hands blankly; the calloused and scarred skin staring him in the face. According to the old man he practiced ice magic, which explained why he'd been feeling so cold. He frowned at the palm of his hands as the right side of his chest burned once more.

That was another thing that bothered him.

The old man told him about the symbol that was on his chest; how it marked him as a member of Fairy Tail. The symbol on his chest was supposedly the undeniable truth that he was a part of this family. But if that was the case, if this was truly where he was meant to be, why was he able to forget about everyone so easily. The old man told him that he had been with the guild for a little over ten years now, so he had to be close with the other members…but he couldn't remember any of them…

Why couldn't he remember them?

"Gray," An unfamiliar voice came from behind him, "Are you alright?"

He jumped in his seat and turned to face the person who intruded upon his solitude. The first thing that he noticed that the girl who had called him was practically dressed head to toe in armour. When he looked at her, he couldn't help the small feeling of fear that blossomed in his chest. There was something about her stern brown eyes that struck something within him; even if he didn't know why that was.

"Uh," He shrunk down so that his chin was almost touching the hem of his sweater, "Yeah, I guess…it's been a little crazy lately."

"I don't disagree with you," The girl seemed to smile at him, "Do you mind if I took a seat with you?"

"No, you can do what you want." He muttered as he looked away from her.

"Thank you."

He kept his gaze firmly on the table in front of him as he heard her armoured footsteps walk to the other side of the table. He heard the bench squeak slightly as she sat across from him, but he couldn't find it in himself to acknowledge her. He knew that he should probably say something, but he didn't know what he would say to her. He had a feeling that 'sorry I can't remember you at all' wasn't something that she was going to like very much.

He played with the sleeves of his sweater as the two of them sat in silence. Initially he thought that the silence would be awkward, but for some reason it was comforting. He felt the muscles in his shoulders and the back of his neck relaxing; he hadn't even noticed how tense he was until he started to relax. He simply listened to the somewhat subdued, yet cacophonous noise of the guild hall and enjoyed the happiness that seemed to flow through the atmosphere.

"They're a lively bunch aren't they?" The armoured girl stated, "I hope they don't get too out of hand, or I might have to step in."

He frowned and glanced up from the table. He was once again met by the stern brown eyes of the girl, but now that she was in front of him, he could see that she had scarlet red hair. The way she sat was fairly proper as opposed to his slouching and her gaze never seemed to stray from his face. He rubbed the back of his neck when he noticed her intense stare, but he forced himself to keep eye contact; even if she was slightly terrifying.

"Step in?" He furrowed his eyebrows, "Why would you have to do that? They're only having fun."

The corners of her lips curled upwards as she clasped her fingers together,

"That may be true, but I can't let the guild hall get destroyed now can I?"

"I guess."

He picked at the table absently as he still felt her burning gaze on him. He let the silence draw on for a few more moments before he sighed loudly. He pulled his hands away from the table and looked up at her once more. He frowned slightly when he saw that she wanted to say something, but was holding herself back for some reason. He didn't know how he knew that or anything, he barely knew her, but there was a sadness in her eyes that caused chills to sweep down his spine.

"Hey," He bit his lip nervously, "Is, uh, is something bothering you?"

"Nothing of too much importance," She shrugged him off, "How is your wound holding up?"

He automatically lifted his hand to his head and felt the small bandage. The blue haired girl, Wendy, said that the wound was almost closed and that he was healing nicely but asked if he could wear the bandage on his head for a little longer. He almost had to wonder if she asked him to do it so that the rest of the guild didn't have to be reminded that he wasn't the same 'Gray' that they all knew; she wanted to save them from the pain.

"It's alright I guess; a little tender if anything," He muttered, "But enough of that, I don't think you've ever told me your name."

The red headed mage's eyes widened before the corner of her lips twisted up into some semblance of a smile. Once again, he felt tension release from his shoulders at the action; why was this girl's mood affecting him so much? Was she important to him before? He frowned slightly in thought; it would really suck if it turned out that she was his girlfriend or something. Imagine coming home only to find out your boyfriend no longer remembers you.

"I go by the name Erza Scarlet." She pulled him out of his thoughts.

"Erza Scarlet huh?" He took in her crimson hair again and smirked, "I'd say that's pretty fitting for you."

She laughed under her breath,

"You're not the only one to think that."

He tilted his head to the side faintly as he heard the longing in her voice. He bit the inside of his cheek briefly before opening his mouth.

"So," He swallowed, "Clearly you knew me before…how would you describe me?"

Erza seemed to turn thoughtful for a moment; her fingers tapping her chin contemplatively. He moved restlessly in his seat as he waited for her to respond. With how long she was taking, he was beginning to wonder if she really didn't know him at all. He was about to tell her to not worry about it when she finally opened her mouth.

"You're a very complicated person Gray," She told him bluntly, "Despite being an ice mage you're a bit of a hot head who causes damage to the guild hall every other week. Of course, I always step in to discipline you, but it never seems to sink in. And when you're not fighting in the guild hall you're walking around it in your boxers or nothing at all…"

He cringed as the armoured mage's voice started to get louder as she listed aspects of his personality; he sounded like a real menace. And what kind of person walked around naked?! He must have been insane to do stuff like that. But as he looked around the noisy guild hall, he was willing to bet that 99.9% of the guild members were insane themselves. He pulled the hem of his sweater down to make sure that it stayed firmly on his body; maybe there was one good thing about him not being able to remember anything.

"But," She called his attention again when he felt an armoured hand clasp gently onto his forearm, "You also care very much for your comrades and would do anything to make sure any one of us was safe; even if you put yourself in dangerous situations by doing so."

He smiled softly and ducked his head,

"Well at least there's that."

"Yes," She hummed in agreement as she released him, "Not to mention you always give me your slice of strawberry cake; that makes you a stand up citizen in my book."

He chuckled as he noticed the starry expression in her eyes; clearly this woman loved her strawberry cake. Actually when she looked like that she didn't seem as scary as she did when he first saw her; if anything she looked like an innocent little girl. However, he instinctively knew better than to let that expression fool him. There was no doubt in his mind that she would be able to kick his ass.

"That's good to know," He smirked, "If I ever stumble across a piece, I'll be sure to get it for you."

"Good man," Erza praised, "I knew I could count on you."

He felt the corner of his mouth drop slightly at the comment. How could she count on him when he couldn't even remember her? Sure there was that warm feeling in his chest that he got when he interacted with the others from the guild, but that wasn't much to go on. The fact of the matter was, if he couldn't remember any time soon he was going to leave Fairy Tail; he didn't want to be a burden on the others.

He didn't want them to feel pain every time that they looked at him.

"Do you have something on your mind Gray?"

He jumped at the sound of Erza's voice, forgetting she was even there for a moment, and shook his head slowly. This was something that he couldn't share with everyone; he had a feeling that if any of them discovered his intentions, they would find a way to stop him from leaving. He opened his mouth to come up with some sort of excuse only for the sound of the guild hall's front doors to swing open with a large bang.

The noise that once engulfed the guild was immediately silenced. He could feel the tenseness that seemed to overtake the air; he was sure that he felt Erza tense from behind him. Before anyone could act, a chilly wind swept into the guild seemingly freezing everyone in their seats. Something seemed to churn in his gut at the icy temperatures; it seemed familiar in some way…for some reason it seemed like…

 _Home_.

He noted that it wasn't the same way he felt about Fairy Tail; no, this meant a different kind of home. He frowned as the echoes of distant screams filled him. What was this feeling; what was going on? He shifted his gaze to the doors and squinted when he noticed the outline of a silhouette. He didn't have to wait long to see what the silhouette was, because in the next moment someone entered the guild hall.

TBC

 **So…**

 **Hello again everyone…I am alive…surprise?**

 **This prompt was given to me be Rewinsan for my "Changing Seasons" prompt month fic, but since it has been so long (LIKE TWO YEARS) since I have been able to work on this story and any of the other prompts I received, I decided to post this fic separately and split it up into a mini two or three shot fic considering the length of it – I am hoping to write the other parts out soon and have them posted!**

 **Now, you're probably all wondering where the hell I have been over the past couple years (or you've all given up on me LOL) so I'm going to give you the short version… my computer that had all my started chapters, prompts, etc. for all my other stories died on me and I did not have a way of getting them off my old computer onto my new one . Because of that I lost all faith in my ideas and I couldn't recreate any of the ideas I had so I (like the weak, depraved soul I am) gave up on writing fanfics and subsequently got sucked into other fandoms and stuck to reading fics and supporting fellow readers from the sidelines.**

 **I am hoping to be back in action though now that I do have my previously written chapters in my possession! I am sorry for not informing all you amazing people of this earlier. I just wanted to let you know that I am aware of all your support and I have heard your requests for my other stories to continue and I am telling you all that hopefully those stories will also be updated ASAP.**

 **THEY HAVE NOT BEEN ABANDONED!**

 **Thank you again for everything and your understanding,**

 **Sktrgrl**


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